Jáchymov, camp Nikolaj
penal labor camp · 22137, 363 01 Jáchymov, Czech Republic
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Scout University in Prison

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When Jiří Rys Lukšíček was twenty-one years old he was sentenced to six years of imprisonment for high treason. He got to the labour camp Nikolaj and worked there in the shaft Eduard. Fifty-nine per cent of the local prisoners were condemned for political reasons: “The first thing they asked you: ‛Why are you here?’ - ‛For treason.’ - ‛And specifically?’ - ‛Oh, scouting.’ - ‛Also a scout!’” No wonder the prisoners felt like among fellows. “There was a kind of university. We studied German. To get the German textbooks was quite difficult in those times. Of course, until they stole everything. The scouting in Nikolaj consisted in mutual discussions and new information. And I think that scouting is about getting to know new things, not only about tuition how to make knots. Scouting is also about building a relationship and keeping it even under not very positive circumstances," Lukšíček recalled.

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Jiří (Rys) Lukšíček

Jiří (Rys) Lukšíček

Jiří Lukšíček was born August 16, 1933 in Prague. In 1945 he joined Junák, (the Czech scouting organization), and he was active in the troop No. 100 and later in No. 145. After 1949, when the gradual disbandment of Junák began, Jiří Lukšíček - Rys became a member of a scouting resistance group. Their illegal activities focused mainly on distribution of anti-state pamphlets and minor sabotage actions. The members possessed weapons, which however were used primarily for moral support and as trophies. Jiří Lukšíček was arrested for the first time in March 1953 and detained for two months. He was lucky that investigators did not find the weapons and that they only investigated him because of a less serious case. In 1953-54 Rys was doing his military service in the 61st section of Auxiliary Technical Battalions near Rumburk. Because of his record of imprisonment he was regarded politically unsuitable for any other kind of military service. He was arrested again during his military service, as the investigators eventually found the weapons and related the resistance group's activities to other fabricated cases. Rys was subsequently sentenced to six years of imprisonment, during which he was forced to work in the camps Nikolaj, and later Rovnost, where he also met other scouts. After his release in 1960 he found a job as a worker in the ČKD factory, and later he completed an industrial school and began teaching in ČKD. In 1968 he restored the 233rd troop within the 34th scout group Ostříž. He then tried to lead the group in spite of the subsequent ban on Junák, which came at the beginning of 1970. In the same year he was forbidden to work with the youth. After the Velvet Revolution he restored the group and also became a very active official in the restored Junák. Among other he served as a member of the Conciliation Board. Even now he still attends various meetings and is involved in scouting life.

Jáchymov, camp Nikolaj

Available in: English | Česky

The camp was among the largest in the Jáchymov area and notorious for the barbarous torture of the inmates. The labor camp was established in 1950. Approximately 800 meters away from the campsite was the Eduard mine, where the inmates were transported every day by the so-called "Jáchymov bus" – a large group of inmates tied together by a rope and faced starvation as well as the cold. Until 1955, the camp still included German prisoners. The camp was terminated in 1958. At the site of the former camp – codenamed Nikolaj A – the visitor of today will only find the remnants of the external walls of some buildings of the camp. Former inmates still recognize the location of the former bathrooms, or the so-called "apelplatz," where they had to line up and wait before being counted.

Jáchymov, camp Nikolaj

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